International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research (IJVNR) is published by IMR Press from Volume 95 Issue 1 (2025). Previous articles were published by another publisher under a hybrid publishing model, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Hogrefe.
Vitamin C reverses bone loss in an osteopenic rat model of osteoporosis
1 Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Department of Human Sciences, Kingsville, USA
2 Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Kingsville, USA
3 University of Texas at Austin, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Austin, USA
4 Morgan State University, School of Community Health & Policy, Baltimore, USA
Abstract
Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamin C with antioxidant properties which are known to influence bone quality. This study evaluated whether vitamin C (1000 mg/L) added to drinking water reverses the bone loss in ovariectomized rats. Ninety-day-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to either sham (n = 14) or ovariecotmized groups (n = 28). Sixty days after ovariectomy, the treatments were sham, ovariectomy (OVX), OVX + vitamin C (22 mg oral intake daily) for 60 days. Urine was collected for deoxypyridinoline (DPD) evaluation, rats were sacrificed, and antioxidant capacity, osteopontin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and bone specific tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) were evaluated in the plasma. Right femur and 5th lumbar were evaluated for bone density, strength, ash, Ca, and Mg concentrations. Antioxidant capacity, ALP activity, osteopontin decreased (p-value < 0.05), while TRAP and urinary DPD increased (p-value < 0.05) with ovariectomy. In contrast, vitamin C increased (p-value < 0.05) antioxidant capacity, ALP activity, osteopontin concentration and reduced (p-value < 0.05) TRAP and urinary DPD excretion, respectively. Ovariectomy reduced (p-value < 0.05) bone quality, bone ash, Ca and Mg concentrations. Vitamin C increased (p-value < 0.05) femoral density without affecting (p-value > 0.1) femoral strength, ash, or Ca, and Mg concentrations, while it increased (p-value < 0.05) the 5th lumbar density, ash, and Ca and Mg concentrations. In conclusion, vitamin C increased bone quality and antioxidant capacity in ovariectomized rats.
Keywords
- Vitamin C
- antioxidant capacity
- bone quality
- ovariectomy
